Twilight: Bay City Paranormal Investigations, Book 3

That’s what you’re about to tell me, isn’t it?”
A muscle twitched in Bo’s jaw. “Yes, it is. We were hired to investigate these sighting, so when all three of us witnessed this being—whatever it may be— manifest and run into the woods, we followed it.”
Bo’s clipped, careful tone told Sam how angry he was, and how hard he was suppressing it. Sam felt the same way. Even though he knew suspicion and close questioning were essential for a detective to solve a case, he hated having that suspicion aimed at himself and his friends when they’d done nothing wrong.
“I thought I saw someone in those bushes,” Sam continued. “I was afraid the…the thing was going to hurt the person, so I ran closer to try and make it go away. Bo and Dean followed me. We all saw the thing go into the bushes and kill the person it had trapped.”
“It just disappeared after that,” Dean added. “And we looked in the thicket and spotted the body.”
Parsons glanced at Ramirez, who’d taken out a notebook and was writing in it. “You getting this, Ramirez?”
He nodded without looking up.
“And then you found the prescription bottle how?” Parsons asked, extracting the paper bag from the snow with a pair of tweezers from her case. She deposited it in another Ziploc bag handed to her by Torrence.
“I stepped on it when I walked away from the thicket,” Sam explained. “It rolled under my foot and made me lose my balance. Dean found it when he went to see what it was I stepped on.”
“I see.” Rising to her feet, Parsons turned a cool gray-eyed gaze to each of them in turn. “Ramirez, keep an eye on them while Boone and I take a look at the body.”
Ramirez stuck his notebook and pen in his coat pocket. He crossed his arms loosely over his chest. The movement looked casual, but Sam knew better. He’d seen the shoulder holster earlier. Ramirez had them covered and wouldn’t hesitate to shoot them if he felt it necessary.
Sam glanced at Bo and Dean. Their expressions said they’d both noticed as well, and neither was any happier than Sam about being considered possible suspects.
The three of them stood still and silent under Ramirez’s watchful eye while Boone, Torrence and Parsons photographed, measured, jotted notes and finally put each of the scattered body parts in its own large Ziploc bag. By the time they were finished, the soft sides of the collapsible cooler bulged outward.
The trek back to the Lodge was silent and tense. Sam, Bo and Dean walked side by side behind Boone and Parsons. Boone had extended the handle on the large, wheeled cooler and was pulling it behind her. The wheels made two sharp parallel tracks in the snow.
Sam stared at the back of Parsons’ head as they plodded along. He didn’t know whether her silence was a good thing or a bad thing. In his limited experience, police detectives were a pretty tight-lipped lot, but they’d never had this little to say to him before. It made him anxious, wondering whether he, Bo and Dean were about to be dragged back down the mountain in handcuffs.
When they reached the Lodge, Boone and Torrence hurried to collect the horses, so they could get back down the mountain with the body and other evidence while the trail was still passable. The rest of the group followed Parsons into Lex and Carl’s office.
Lex looked up from a pile of papers. Anxiety was etched into every line of her face. “You’re back. Was the body…? Was it Harry?”
Parsons’ expression didn’t change, but the hardness in her eyes melted into sympathy. “We can’t be sure until we run some tests, Mrs. Bledsoe. But we’ll let you know as soon as we know anything.”
“I…I can identify him,” Lex quavered, twisting her fingers together. “If you need me to, that is.”
“I think that might be impossible,” Parsons said, her voice gentle. “The body isn’t intact. There isn’t enough of the face left to allow positive identification.” Lex paled. “Oh.”
“Whoever this is,” Parsons continued, all business again, “they have been dead at least a few days. Possibly as long as two or three weeks. Again, it’s difficult to know for sure until we’re able to run some tests.”
Two or three weeks? But we just saw it happen, how can it have happened that long ago?
Sam glanced at his coworkers. Dean looked just as startled as Sam felt. Bo merely looked thoughtful, and Sam wondered what he knew, or suspected.
A loud sniff from Lex brought Sam out of his thoughts.